


Ninja Husband

by Bobbadopolous



Category: Emmerdale, robron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 16:45:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10034114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bobbadopolous/pseuds/Bobbadopolous
Summary: How do you let your husband know you love him when any show of affection could put him in danger?  Here’s how…





	

Robert walked into the pub and spotted Vic behind the bar.

“Hey Vic, have you seen Carly?” Robert asked dispensing with formalities and getting straight to the point.

“Should I have?” she asked.

Robert stifled an impatient sigh and reminded himself that he loved his sister. “She’s not at home I thought she might be out the back with Marlon.”

“Why are you looking for Carly?” Vic asked leaning leisurely across the bar as though Robert had all day to stand around and chat.

“Is she here or not Vic?” Robert asked more sharply than he’d intended.

“Alright keep your shirt on,” Vic said looking simultaneously annoyed and concerned by her brother’s behaviour, “I haven’t seen Carly or Marlon.”

Robert groaned, this was turning out to be more difficult than he’d imagined and he wasn’t even at the hard part yet… the part where Carly had to agree to help him.

“Rob what’s this all about?” Vic asked.

“Nothing,” Robert said collapsing heavily onto a barstool in defeat.

Vic’s look shifted from concern to suspicion, “Robert Jacob Sugden what are you up to?”

“Just leave it Vic,” Robert said frustrated.

“No,” Vic shot back immediately and the fierce look on her face told Robert he was going to have to fess up.

“I just wanted to do something for Aaron,” Robert admitted quietly working hard to keep his voice even.

“With Carly?” Vic asked confused.

“You can’t laugh when I tell you this Vic,” Robert said looking her in the eye, “I mean it.”

Vic wasn’t sure she could make that promise but she wasn’t going to tell Robert that.  
Instead she said, “cross my heart.”

Robert sighed, was he really going to admit to this… he supposed he was. “Aaron’s pretending to be straight,” he said eventually.

Vic’s face flooded with understanding and she reached out to give Robert’s arm a comforting squeeze.  
“You know that’s got nothing to do with how he feels about you Rob… it just makes sense in prison, that’s all.”

“I know that Vic,” Robert said confidently, “I’m not mad. It just makes it harder for me to let him know I love him and that I miss him.”

Vic gave his arm another reassuring squeeze.

“He can’t even have a picture of me Vic,” Robert continued even though his voice was getting tighter and little more uncertain… the way it did whenever he thought about Aaron sitting in that goddamn cell, “so I thought maybe I could send him something to remind him I’m still here, thinking about him.”

“How does Carly fit in?” Vic asked.

“She was going to be my decoy,” Robert admitted, “If she agreed to it.”

“Decoy?”

Robert nodded, “yeah, she was going to be Aaron’s ‘girlfriend’.”

“Well I could do that,” Vic said immediately and Robert loved her for it but it wasn’t an option.

“No!” He said, “I’m not having my little sister’s picture hung on some prison wall for crims to leer at.”

“But it’s ok to ask Carly?” Vic asked disapprovingly, “anyway what about your BFF? Bet she’d be well up for it.”

Robert looked confused.

“Rebecca,” Vic said as if it was obvious.

“You really think Aaron wants a photo of Rebecca on his wall?” Robert asked.

“Fair point,” Vic admitted, “I still don’t see why I can’t do it. Aren’t I hot enough to be Aaron’s girlfriend?”

“Please don’t make me answer that question,” Robert begged.

But Vic seemed to ignore the fact that he’d spoken, “need I remind you that back in the day Aaron seemed to find me attractive enough.”

Robert groaned, Vic had hit on the subject he ‘d been hoping to avoid… his sister and husband’s sexual history (a lacklustre sexual history but still).

“No Vic,” Robert said and then feeling slightly bad for throwing his sister’s attempts to help back in her face he said, “but you can be the official photographer if you like.”

With her appointment to an official role Vic seemed placated… for the time at least.

“Right well give me an hour to finish up my shift,” Vic said happily, “then Marlon will take over and you and I can track down Carly together.”

“Thanks Vic,” Robert said with renewed enthusiasm getting up from the bar and heading for the backroom. He needed to gather a few things together for the afternoon’s activities.

…

Robert returned to the pub with ten minutes to spare and was pleasantly surprised to find Carly there arm in arm with Marlon as she dropped him off for his shift.

“Carly,” he called out, “Just the person I was looking for.”

Carly raised an eyebrow suspiciously while Marlon regarded Robert with his usual combination of wariness and confusion.

“I wondered if you’d do me a favour,” Robert asked hoping that the bonding they’d done over Dingle Christmas had created enough good will between them.

“No!” Marlon scoffed only to be shut down by duel withering looks from Carly and Robert.

“I can answer for myself thanks,” Carly responded but there wasn’t a lot of heat in it.

“It’s for Aaron,” Robert explained which effectively wiped the protest of Marlon’s face.

Mercifully, at that moment, Vic poked her head out of the kitchen and called for Marlon to join her. The chef hesitated but only for a moment.

“Well go on then,” Carly said giving him a soft peck on the cheek, “I’ll see you tonight.”

With Marlon gone the situation got a lot easier for Robert.

“So what do you want?” Carly asked getting straight to the point.

…

Aaron was surprised to see a letter addressed to him wedged between the bars of his cell when he returned from lunch. His family and friends always showed up for visitations and never failed to pick up the phone when he called but none of them were really big on putting pen to paper. 

He picked up the envelope and looked for a return address but there wasn’t one. Still he was sure the handwriting on the front was Robert’s.

His hands shook with anticipation as he opened it. He hoped Robert had been smart enough not to give too much away in the letter… then immediately felt terrible for thinking that.

Inside there was a small note that said ‘thinking of you always’ and a half a dozen pictures of … Carly? Aaron was only confused for a moment before he saw their true purpose.

The first photo was Carly in the Woolpack leaning casually against the bar wearing a pair of jeans and a tight pink sweater smiling adoringly at the camera and behind her was… Robert. Robert wearing the suit Aaron loved best. He was a couple of seats down from Carly and facing slightly away from the camera though Aaron could still see his face quite clearly. His eyes were smiling and his mouth was half open as though he’d been caught mid conversation. No one in their right minds would guess he was really the focus of the picture.

In the second picture Carly was at the scrapyard with a hardhat and orange safety vest on, she was holding a sledge hammer in her hands and a look of mischief on her face. For anyone else looking at the photo that would be all they saw. After all it was hard for a straight guy to look past someone as attractive as Carly (Aaron assumed that was why she’d been chosen but how Robert had actually convinced her to do it he had no idea). Aaron’s eyes on the other hand were drawn to something else entirely. His attention was taken to the spot in background where a very shapely bum clad in a pair of work overalls was bent over a car bonnet, its owner studiously examining the engine. Aaron would know that butt anywhere… Aaron loved that butt.

Aaron couldn’t help but laugh thinking about the photo being taken and how much Robert had trusted whoever was holding the camera… it had to have been Vic. 

The next picture had been taken at the Mill. There was a close up of Carly’s face in the bottom right corner as though she’d taken a selfie and in the background was the worksite Aaron one day hoped to call home. Aaron could just make out the figures of Robert, Adam and Ronnie carrying bits of rubbish to the skip outside. Robert, in particular, seemed to be struggling under the weight. Aaron smiled affectionately at him, knowing he wasn’t the biggest fan of manual labour and remembering that there wasn’t much Robert wouldn’t do for him.

The fourth picture in the series was taken in the café. Carly was sitting on one of the lounges smiling widely and holding up a muffin at him. In the background Robert sat alone at a table for two nursing an Americano in his hands while a teacup sat across from him in front of an empty chair… Aaron’s tea sat in front of Aaron’s chair. Aaron wiped furiously at his eyes refusing to let the tears build there.

The next picture was taken in David’s. Carly was laughing and holding up a pineapple to the camera, meanwhile in the background Robert was standing with his back to the camera. He was in the section set aside for personal grooming and in his hand he held a bottle of what he called ‘Aaron’s cheap tat’. 

The last picture had Carly sitting at one of the table’s outside the pub. Vic was on one side of her and Tracey on the other. The three ladies had champagne glasses in their hands and they were raised in a toast to something unknowable. It looked just like a night out with the girls except for the fourth champagne glass that entered the picture from behind the camera. It was a decidedly more masculine hand, though the fingers were still long and thin, and adorning the fourth finger of that hand was a simple white gold wedding band.

Aaron went back through every photo studying them intently, every one of them containing a secret treasure trove of meaning. 

He was so caught up in the moment that he didn’t hear Ethan approach, nor did he react quickly enough when he snatched the photos out of his hand.

“What do we have here?” his cellmate asked in his usual easy going tone.  
As far as bunkmates went Aaron supposed he could’ve done worse. And while he knew Ethan meant no harm that didn’t mean he appreciated his hands all over Aaron’s private photos. Especially as they were the only mementos he had of Robert.

“Ooh Aaron mate,” Ethan said appreciatively, “Your bird’s well fit.”

Aaron sighed with relief on the inside. To him every photo was about Robert, it was obvious and loving and refusing to be hidden but to Ethan they were just photos of some hot bird. Robert’s scheme had passed its first test.

“Give them back,” Aaron said bluntly holding out his hand.  
Something in his face must’ve convinced Ethan that he was serious because he handed them over without a fuss.

“Alright, alright,” he said, “I didn’t mean no offense.”’

Aaron nodded, effectively clearing the air between them.

“Here you go,” Ethan said reaching for the tape and tossing it to Aaron who caught it one handed (determined not to let go of his photos with the other).

“Cheers,” Aaron said climbing onto his bunk and starting to tape up the pictures on the wall near his pillow. Now Robert would be the first thing he saw in the morning and the last thing he saw at night. It wasn’t the same as having him there but it was a hell of a lot better than nothing.


End file.
